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Published: September 7th 2017
Geo: 40.6263, 14.3757
Had my last breakfast with my hostess at 8 am, she really was a delightful lady and I hope to see her again if possible. Left the apt a little before 9 to walk to the train station to make the 9:37 circumsuviana train to Napoli in order to catch the Frecciarossa train to Roma, I have a reserved seat leaving at 12:00. I had to stop at one point to take the backpack off, note to self: pack LIGHTER!! I have no idea how to do this as I only have the carry-on and smallish backpack... but if I can really want to take even less stuff....
Made it in plenty of time, bought the 4,10 euro ticket to Naples and sat on the train for 20 minutes waiting for it to take off. So glad I got there early as I took up two seats, one for me and one for my luggage, but there is no getting around it... by the time we left the place was packed. Met a nice couple from Brazil on the way to Naples, we asked a young Italian couple about the correct stop to get off at and they kindly
made sure we got off at the right one, even went out of their way and led us upstairs to the place to catch our train to Rome. Though the signs really show the way quite easily for anyone doing this on their own, it wouldn't be a problem finding your way. They were just very nice and wanted to make sure we made it ok.
Arrived at the Garibaldi station in Naples at about 10:45 and had to wait until 11:40 till they posted which binario (train track) that my train would be on. As soon as they do lots of people headed off in that direction. I was really fortunate as I bought my tickets a month or so before leaving and was able to get into business class for only 29 euros, same price or less than 2nd class (I paid the same for 2nd class on the trip down) it's much nicer... leather seats that recline! free newspapers and snacks and drinks...
Anyway arrived at the same time as the back of train ;-) in Rome, on the way though, I enjoyed the beautiful views of the countryside, its a very mountainous area, seeing Vesuvius fairly close
it pretty cool. The city has grown up along the sides of the mountain, so if it goes again as it is still active, there is no way everyone is getting out in time, too many people and too little ways for everyone to get out of the way in time. This is called the Campania region and as said before is mountainous, very green all over the place, all of it next to the beautiful blue Mediterranean sea and you can see why it was the choice vacation spot for emperors...
Some of the places that I missed this trip and hope to visit if I ever make it back:
Ercolano (Herculaneum)
Capri
the Amalfi Coast and towns
Paestum
Hike up Vesuvio (Vesuvius)
Pompeii* (again, worth seeing twice!)
Along the train tracks at times you can see where some of the homeless live, I think a lot of them are the Roma or gypsies, lots of garbage in some places too.
Arrived in Rome, left the train station and found the B & B Atos quite easily, its maybe a 4-5 minute walk from the station. Not the location I'd want to stay if I were staying for more than a night but it's great for what I
want. It's very clean, safe, and the hostess is very nice and accommodating.
After leaving my stuff and learning how to use the 3 different keys to get back into the B&B, one for the room door, one for the B&B door, and one for the building door, there was even another one for the room safe but didn't use it... I then went back to the train station to buy my ticket for the following morning, the Leonardo Express train that just goes back and forth to the airport from the station. It's a 14 euro ticket and a half an hour ride, after finding the place to buy the ticket, the amount of people waiting was daunting!! grabbed a number and started waiting.... waiting, waiting... thinking I'm missing out on seeing Rome this afternoon... after 45 minutes decided to go buy my metro tickets because in that amount of time only about 30-40 numbers were moved in my direction so figured I had plenty of time... went downstairs to the metro area and into a Tabbachi shop, they sell everything including tickets for the bus and metro, had totally forgotten that they can sell the Leonardo Express!! so
bought that and two metro tickets in a minute... too bad I didn't remember that 45 minutes before...
Decided to ride the metro to the Colosseum stop, wanted to take a walk from there to some of the sites I missed last time, the train didn't stop there, and stopped at the Circo Massimo stop, that's Circus Maximus stop, it's just on the other side of the Palatine Hill next to the Colosseum and just a little bit more of a walk. LOTS of tour buses and tourists, so much so that it made walking on the sidewalks difficult in places.Right in the shadow practically of the Colosseum, was a street preacher, preaching the gospel to those passing by, I went over to encourage him, he was from the Milan area if I remember correctly. As I walked away I thought about the fact that he was preaching in the footsteps of Paul in Rome, just 2,000 years later.
I really don't remember it being so crowded before, made my way past the Palatine, Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, the Forum, the "Wedding Cake" (tomb of the unknown soldier and eternal flame) walked up the stairs of this for the
first time, they have two armed guards up there, it's always moving thinking about those that gave their lives in wars that perhaps were noble or perhaps not, depending on the leaders and issues involved.
Walked on to Campo d'Fiori then made my way to the Pantheon and wanted to get a gelato at Giolitti's, where we kept going the last visit here, found it and tried to make my way over to Pizza Navona to make the traditional Passeggiata, but there was a heavy police presence and some streets were blocked off so I actually made a circle and ended up back at the Pantheon! After wasting this time I decided to bypass Navona and just get back to the B & B before dark so followed the signs to Trevi Fountain, then the Spanish Steps where I took the metro back to the main station, then on to my room.
It's dusk by the time I'm walking back down the street to my B&B and I definitely would not want to walk here after dark... it would probably be fine but really not comfortable so am glad I'm getting back when I do. Too many people just standing around
not doing anything...
Am ready for bed by 7 pm! I check emails, check in for my flight after several unsuccessful attempts, get my stuff ready to leave in the morning and am really ready for bed and lights out at 8:45, don't think I've gone to bed this early since I was a little girl... woke up at about 3:15 am and got back to sleep about 5 ish and up a few minutes after 6... that's how my nights have been going the last few nights, o well...
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![On top of the "Wedding Cake"](http://photos.travelblog.net/370830/995309/t/9572224-on-top-of-the-quot-wedding-cake-quot-0.jpg "On top of the "Wedding Cake"")
